Using this contract is fine, and it's great that it's being shared - but if you are serious about freelancing, you really should go and talk to a lawyer and either get this contract checked out (laws vary state by state/country by country, and so a contract valid on one state/country might not be in the next) or get them to write one for you. It's much cheaper to get the contract sorted out now if there's something wrong with it, then face a legal battle in the future over the validity of your contract if something goes badly wrong.

Too true tickedon, that's why I wrote this in conjunction with my free contract offer:

Originally Posted by Julian

Please find enclosed one of my businesses contracts, you are welcome to use this for your own use but you will have to personalize it for your business. I recommend seeking legal advice on your contracts contents.

Thankyou for this Julian. I am quite confident in my skills as a programmer but one area that needs alot of attention is my lack of knowledge in business, legalities and contracts. This article should help me alot.

Do you get a lawyer to check over every single contract you make or did you just visit a lawyer initially to figure out what content should be in each of your contracts?

Thankyou for this Julian. I am quite confident in my skills as a programmer but one area that needs alot of attention is my lack of knowledge in business, legalities and contracts. This article should help me alot.

Do you get a lawyer to check over every single contract you make or did you just visit a lawyer initially to figure out what content should be in each of your contracts?

You're welcome Travis.

I got my lawyer to go over my contracts after I had drafted them up. I only have a contract for web development and graphic design, they are both very similar except the graphics one doesn't contain web elements. The lawyer just checked the legality of my clauses and the pertinent New Zealand law.